Apples to Apples?

A thousand years ago, I completed all of the course work required for my masters, and then left the paper work up to someone else. That resulted in perhaps the best lession from all of grad school- don't trust other people. I found out six months ago or so that the paper work was messed up, so I filed it correctly, and because of that, I "graduated" in June. Ridiculous? Of course. A reason for gathering? Most certainly. I invited Shawn, Jason, his BF Kiel, Angela, Chris, Shannon, Colin, his GF Jess, Marissa, Angela (yup, two Angelas), and Devin over for games, cupcakes, and drinks. Unfortunate stories were relayed, much alcohol was consumed, Taboos were revealed, and a porch was christened, so to speak. Linda has been waiting for the gathering for months, but not because she could be here. Linda was convinced that the world would implode if Colin and Shawn were ever to meet. That is because they are strangely similar, and yet completely different. Matter to anti-matter, Superman to Batman, bizarro versions of one another. So they met, and yet here we are, the world just as it was the day before. So are they Apples to Apples? Not really, but I loved playing the game.

Who's Your Grandma?

I went to Popcorn Pops, an outdoor music concert, this past Friday, with Shawn, several friends from work, and their families. It was great weather and fun music and nice food and drinks. Shawn and I brought a barrel of laughs, otherwise known as a barrel of wine. The kids targeted Shawn and myself, and the next thing I knew, we were playing tag. Lucie, my friend Amy's first daughter, fell in love with Shawn (is there a female around these days that isn't in love with him?). She told Shawn that he was her boyfriend and Shawn told her that I might be jealous. So then she started to taunt me, "Jealous? Are you jealous?" Later, she asked me, "Whose mom are you?" When I told her I was no one's mom, she asked, "Are you some one's grandma?" WHAT?! I was horrified by thought that Shawn will run away with Lucie in 20 years and I am going to tied to a walker with tennis ball feet. We actually had a great time with the kids, but when Shawn and I got home, we were tired, worn out, and a little broken. Maybe I am someone's grandma....

Boom Boom Pow

This weekend was the Fourth of July of course, and Shawn and I mostly just enjoyed the nice weather and the days off. I didn't have any statehouse tours or work. We grilled lots of food, drank lots of beer, picked raspberries and made yummy food with them, and watched lots of Supernatural. We lazed around and watched the Doo Dah Parade. It is an odd parade, full of the clever and witty fringes of society, a rag tag group of activists prepared to look ridiculous for the masses. Shawn took some pictures of a great photographs of me playing with sparklers. It was a great summer weekend.